Interactions across the supply chain: toward theoretical and empirical development

Many studies claim that when an organization interacts with suppliers and customers across the supply chain, the organization would achieve higher time performances. This claim, however, has never been examined theoretically and empirically. As a result we have limited understanding of the why (i.e., the rationale) and the how (i.e., the mechanisms by which) such interactions would improve time performances. This study begins to address these issues through an empirical analysis of 164 companies. Our analyses suggest two findings. First, when an organization interacts with suppliers and cutomers on quality maangement issues, the organization would improve its time performances indirectly as a result of complete mediation by internaal practices for (i) quality management, (ii) flow management, (iii) inter-unit coordination, and (iv) vertical coordination. On the other hand, when an organization interacts with suppliers and customers on material flow management issues, the impact on time performances can either be completely or partially mediated by internal practices.